My thoughts on Small Weddings and Elopements

Small Weddings and Elopements // As Ozzy and Kelly sang, we’re going through changes (look, we’ve all heard the word unprecedented a million times by now, so i’m going for something more obscure to keep you on your toes, okay?). As the world slowly clunks back to some semblance of normality wedding ceremonies are again possible, with a limit of 30 socially distanced guests. Now, 30 guests – including all suppliers and yourselves, so more like 25 guests – may seem like a small wedding and, by industry standards, it is. Famously, however, size doesn’t matter; it’s what you do with it, and that’s true of weddings too! Here’s a few reasons to have a small, intimate wedding or elopements:

You get more quality time with each other

At a bigger wedding with guests constantly coming over to congratulate you and crow about how gorgeous you look – they’re not wrong – it’s easy for 5 hours to suddenly pass without you having seen your brand new husband/wife. It’s much harder for this to happen in a room of 20 or under (unless you’re actively avoiding them, but that’s a whole other blog post). When you have a small wedding, you can spend more if not all of your day together, soaking it in side by side. This is especially true for elopements, too, where you can just focus solely on each other with no other pulls on your time!

…and more quality time with your guests

Even if you’re not having an elopement, another reason to have a smaller, more intimate wedding is that you get to see more of your guests. You won’t need to worry about whether your guests are alright or enjoying themselves enough, because you’ll be able to see them having a belter of a time right there with you.

No guests = no guest list drama

Addressing the problem at the root, here, getting rid of guest list drama by getting rid of guests. If you are in a situation where family politics could ruin your enjoyment of the day, it may be easier and feel better to just not invite any. You can always celebrate with them symbolically another time, if you so wish, but for now – onto more wine sampling!

Stunning small wedding venues and elopement locations

Ironically, a big wedding can often really restrict your venue search by taking you over capacity at a lot of places. Small weddings don’t have this problem, and open you up to a whoooole host of gorgeous options. (I’d recommend The Old Cow Shed and The Chilli Barn as my starters for stunning small wedding venues outside of London and The Paradise by Way of Kensall Rise and The Zetter Townhouse in London) ! If they’re not a reason to have a small wedding alone…oooft.)

Elopements kick this up a notch into another dimension too – whether you’re thinking wet and windy British beaches, magical Scottish glens or charming city escapes, the backdrops of the world really are your oyster.

Your budget goes further

Budgets are totally personal things that differ wedding to wedding, couple to couple  – so it’s not always true that elopements are a cheaper option. What they are, however, is an option where your money goes further, because you’re only doing it for the two of you and the two of you alone. Naturally, things get a bit pricier when you’re covering 50, 75, 100, 250 heads!

So, there you have it – 5 reasons to love small weddings and elopements, pre- and post-COVID 19. Are you having a small wedding? Tell me all!